...The Bright Side of a Liberal Arts Education Now that I am in college, I have pondered upon whether a liberal arts education is better than a vocational education; a topic that did not cross my mind in high school. A liberal arts curriculum includes the studies intended to primarily provide general knowledge such as language, philosophy, literature, and abstract science and to develop general intellectual capacities, such as reason and judgment, as opposed to professional or vocational skills (merriam-webster.com). As students wanting to achieve a higher education, we have to think about what we want for ourselves. Either you want to grow as an individual and obtain a major in whichever field you chose, or just learn what best interests you. People have many misconceptions toward what the liberal arts are and how they can benefit you. We often hear things like, “A liberal arts degree will not get you a real job.” or “A liberal arts degree is a luxury not a necessity.” Although this is what the majority of the people who are not aware about the actual facts say, this is not true. An examination of, The New Liberal Arts by author Sanford J. Ungar, and Are Too Many People Going to College? by author Charles Murray, will reveal to us why one gains more knowledge at a liberal arts school. Murray argues that a liberal arts education is only for the elite, but I believe that they shouldn't be the only ones to attend because my vision of a liberal arts college is one where all students...
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...As Arthur Holmes asks questions pertaining to liberal arts education, he asks “What can it do to me?” A liberal arts college has many positive aspects with few downfalls. I believe that a liberal arts college can be very key to into shaping a person because it is beneficial for multiple reasons, it should prepare one for the future, and one gets out of it what they put into it. First, a liberal arts education is extremely beneficial to ones collegiate experience for multiple reasons. Many state colleges and universities focus on the student getting the degree the student has selected as a major in the shortest possible time with all the courses being driven solely for the degree. With fewer students in a class, the student to teacher ratio...
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...CONCEPT OF CHRISTIAN LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION Purposes of Liberal Arts Education Liberal Arts Education can better equip young adults for the future. It broadens students’ knowledge and further open more opportunities for students to make connections with others whether in the career or social life. This generation is geared to international standards; which becomes even more competitive. Various fields of study in Liberal Arts Education provide different angles to grow and challenge students. The students will work through both subject matters that they are familiar as well as the non-familiars. Different expectations within different courses will build their common sense as well as their work ethic and characters....
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...What exactly is a liberal arts education? It is most commonly believed to be an education that encompasses a wide range of topics, providing it’s students with broad general knowledge. According to Burk, it entails much more than that. He highlights three ways in which the liberal arts program at Creighton University extends beyond simply taking the courses in The Magis Core curricula. It broadens your horizons through the opportunity to take different elective courses. You are also encouraged to engage in extracurricular activities that will supplement your development in a non-academic setting. Lastly, and most importantly, he shines light on the certain ways of teaching and distinct relationships between the people who make up this university. You will have passionate teachers who consider teaching to be more than just a job. Larry Sanger, the founder of Wikipedia,...
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...LIBERAL ARTS BREADTH AND MY EDUCATION 3 Liberal Arts Breadth and My Education There are many benefits to getting a Liberal Arts degree in today’s economic market. It is a message to your employer that you are willing to take on new information, and learn more then what is necessary to succeed. It shows initiative and the ability to expand your horizons beyond yourself. In a Liberal Arts education there is more purpose then just learning the career field of choice. It is a program that teaches critical thinking and self-thought. It teaches the student how to learn and teach themselves, to achieve more than just memorization of facts. In the Ottawa University Liberal Arts degree they have four breadth areas that are required for completion of their program. The breadth areas are as follows: Art/Expression, Social/Civic, Science/Description and Value/Meaning. Art/Expression According, to the official curriculum laid out by the school this category is that is highly concentrated in being capable of expressing self through art or speech. It spans from painting, to music, dance, language and communication. The manual’s description is, “how we express ourselves in spoken and written communication and the arts, looking at strengths, experiences, and new opportunities for challenge and growth.” Like, most people art has always been a part of my life. It followed me through my elementary school years to high school. I took ceramics, painting and woodworking 1, 2, 3, and 4 though...
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...Liberal Arts education and a changing time Today, an education is deemed necessary to get a good paying job, at least that is what our parents told us growing up. Although, our parents failed to mention the most important part, an education is more than going to school to get a job that pays well, it is where you find your place in the world, where some find lifelong friends, and many find what they love in life. With all of the new technological advancements going on around us, it seems that with all that change, education is also evolving. Back when only high class men attended universities, the middle class moderate never had a chance to get a higher education. Things like, “How quickly do i want to achieve my degree?” And “What do i want to major in?” Were not topics of conversation, but that is not the case in this modern world. Now a days, there are hundreds of Vocational “training” schools popping up what seems to be everyday. They are career specific schools, with little or no emphasis on the humanities. They are broadcast frequently on our television commercials with catchy slogans and songs, “Get your degree online in less than 10 months” and “Don’t wait! call now for a quick, easy and affordable college degree!” Are all of these readily accessible “training schools” really helping our society flourish? Or are they having a negative effect on the future of our country? But I must debate that college is a place of development, and should not be a school of fast paced...
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...In the article, Gerald Greenberg compares the liberal arts to the concept of ‘Tao’ expounds on the breadth of what a liberal arts education is. He states that everything is a part of ‘liberal arts’ and the liberal arts are a part of everything. Thus far, I agree with him. I, however, do not think that a liberal arts education is the best form, or the only form of education that will lead to a successful and empowering life. Both liberal arts and STEM have their own merits and demerits. Both of them provide a different base, and are designed to equip student differently. A liberal arts student will explore a variety of subjects (‘breadth’), while a STEM major will mostly be exploring a single subject in its depth, It is difficult to conclude which of these is better, since a liberal arts major will probably not hold the same jobs as a STEM major....
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...Higher education has undoubtedly been plagued by many problems in recent years, and one of the most pressing problems is the drastic termination of liberal arts programs across the country. The problem does not arise solely from the closure of liberal arts colleges, but more commonly from many liberal arts colleges changing their curricula in order to be viewed as less traditionally liberal arts and more vocational. Although liberal arts schools only comprise of a small fraction of higher education institutions, (they only educate at most 2 percent of college students, according to the Huffington Post) they make up an important fraction (in terms of accomplished graduates). This essay will include background information on the liberal arts,...
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...Liberal Arts Education With the economy the way it is today, there is much more pressure for students to get a good education and be able to have a successful career. Students across the country have a few different types of high schools that they can choose to attend, including vocational and liberal arts. A vocational school focuses on training for a specific job, while liberal arts schools teach general information about many different subjects. Both liberal arts schools and vocational schools are a better fit for different types of people, but a high school that emphasizes liberal arts would better prepare students for a global economy because it teaches skills that are valuable in any career; it makes graduates more desirable to some employers and helps students to find a career that would suit them best. A liberal arts high school teaches skills that are valuable in any career, instead of just one. Newsweek magazine found that the average American changes careers eleven times before they reach age forty. People have to change careers more than ever because the job market is becoming increasingly competitive. A liberal arts education would allow students to change careers more easily because they wouldn’t have been trained in only one profession. Liberal arts not only teach students general information, but they also teach them how to think and learn. In A Talk to Teachers, James Baldwin says, “The purpose of education, finally is to create in a person the ability...
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...Stanford J. Ungar disagrees with Mike Rose because Ungar believes liberal arts education is something everyone should have in order to have a stable life and a good career. Ungar believes higher education is worth it, when an individual’s job requires other tasks rather than just one task that the individual may have knowledge in. In other words, Ungar says everyone needs to be flexible in what they have knowledge in or are trained in. Everyone thinks that liberal arts education is a waste of money and that there will never be job opportunities in those fields. Ungar disproves this when he states, “An astounding 89 percent said they were looking for more emphasis on ‘the ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing,’ and almost as...
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...Going into college you rarely hear anyone say ‘I want to pursue an education in the liberal arts.’ You may hear students interest in majors such as business, or nursing, or even engineering, but never liberal arts. Why is that? An education in liberal arts is just as important, if not more, as an education in any other field. Allow me to explain why. The liberal arts teaches more than just one general skill. It of course provides a general education, however, it also provides an advantage in written and oral communication, interpersonal skills, problem solving, critical and analytical thinking, and adaptability to change. When entering the job market employers are generally attracted to those with these attributes. The purpose of a liberal arts education is not to train you for a specific job, but to prepare you for the world of work with an invaluable set of skills. Earning a liberal education is very advantageous not only to one’s career, but one’s life as well. Leo Strauss described liberal education as ‘education in culture or toward culture.’ I could not help but agree. Since attending a liberal college and taking a course in liberal arts, I have been exposed to many new things. I got to hear classical music live from a world-renowned violinist, see a contemporary dance performance, read literature from writers such as Tolstoy and Machiavelli, and experience many other wonderful events. I am sure some may think ‘well what’s so important about culture...
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...In the book They say/I say, Sanford J. Ungar, a liberal arts college president states, in the essay “The New Liberal Arts,” that liberal arts colleges are being undermined and hard hit. There are many reasons liberal arts schools are being discontinued more and more throughout time. The cost of the luxury school and innovative time to get students through their schooling. Liberal arts schools do not have all the resources to give financial aid, therefore making it harder to make an uprising in the liberal arts. Families have chosen the career education path for their students so the students have a better chance of getting financial aid. It may seem easier to become part of a job introduction learning system, than a basic learning school system....
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...The Modern Liberal Arts The “New Liberal Arts” by Sanford J. Ungar refers to when money is tight in the economy people starting to despise the liberal arts education which unavoidably brings criticism from policy makers and news media. However, the critique seems to have the wrong judgement of the liberal arts. Ungar is the president of a Liberal Arts College in Baltimore, Maryland and has states many misperceptions about the complexities, the financial issues, and the diversities of liberal arts. Ungar disagrees with the idea that “Many people think liberal-arts degree is a luxury that most families can no longer afford, it’s only for low income and first generation college students pursue.” (Ungar, 191,192) According to Ungar, this is another...
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...Zachary Wilson Writing 121-037 Z Hitzel Unit #1 Essay February 3, 2014 Liberal Arts: Is it Necessary? Liberal arts education has proven to be a very controversial topic to those concerned or affected by it, and it is questioned how or if it should be implemented into college curriculum. Liberal arts education is defined as “the academic course of instruction at a college intended to provide general knowledge and comprising the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, as opposed to professional or technical subjects” (“liberal arts”). Generally, American colleges allow students to choose a major and take prerequisites, however students usually aren’t able to get into the meat of their major studies until their junior year, leaving the first two years of college to liberal arts classes. So, how should it be put into practice? In Patrick N. Allitt’s essay, “Should undergraduates specialize?” and in Mark Jackson’s “The Liberal Arts: A Practical View,” both authors explain how they think such education should be implemented. Although Allitt argues that students should be able to choose whether or not they want a liberal arts education, and Jackson argues that it should be required in order to create versatile students, I believe their ideas should be combined, and that a liberal arts education should be encouraged but not required of students, because I think it is ultimately up to the students themselves what classes they want to take as well as whether...
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...Society today is focused more on what they know and are fearful of the unknown. In the essay, “The New Liberal Arts”, Sanford J. Ungar takes a stance for why having a liberal-arts education is beneficial for all college bound students by stating his claims against the misperceptions of the public about a liberal-arts college. Some of the misperceptions discussed were, college graduates with a liberal-arts degree are finding it much more difficult to find jobs and the liberal Democrats are the reason the country is in trouble and should not be influencing college students. The first misperception discussed was a liberal-arts education becoming a luxury that most families cannot afford as the years go on. He argues this with this type of education...
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